


Not Today

by potions



Category: Bandom, Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Best Friends, Gen, Neighbors, Songfic, its summertime and they're 14
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-27
Updated: 2015-06-27
Packaged: 2018-04-06 12:57:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4222524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/potions/pseuds/potions
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tore the curtains down, windows open, now make a sound</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not Today

**Author's Note:**

> they write notes to each other at multiple points in the fic  
> tyler's are italicized while josh's are not
> 
> lyrics from the song 'not today' are bolded

Tyler couldn't remember the last time he'd left his house. He could hardly remember the last time he left his room, either. He had only peeked out the curtains a few times in the two years he'd been inside.  
  
It didn't bother him. In his mind, he had nothing to offer the world and the world had nothing to offer him.  
  
That was until he decided to look out through his blinds early on Saturday morning.  
  
There he was, a kid about his age with bright blue hair. He was walking towards the P.O box that most of the people on this street got their mail from. It was likely that he went to the public school Tyler had avoided going to for the last two years. Instead of going there, he just did homeschooling.  
  
The kid got his mail and started to walk back to his house, which appeared to be the white one directly across from his own. Tyler's mom always tried to tell him about that house. She was so excited when she heard about a family with children moving in. She had some sort of hope that it would encourage Tyler to leave his room.  
  
It didn't. It was one year ago that she mentioned that house, and not once had he taken any interest in becoming friends with anyone living in it.  
  
Tyler, consumed in his thoughts while he was peeking out the blinds was caught off guard as he noticed that the kid outside was looking at him. The only thing that the other person could see were his eyes, but the fact that he had been noticed still frightened him. Tyler jumped away from the blinds when the blue-haired one started to approach his window. He huddled under the covers as he noticed his shadow in front of his window.  
  
There was a quiet knock, then one just a little louder.  
  
Tyler jumped out of bed, grabbing one of the many notepads scattered around on his floor and scribbled something on a sheet of paper.  
  
_PLEASE GO AWAY_  
  
He climbed back up towards the window and stuck his hand through the curtains and one of the slats in the blinds. He slapped the paper against the window and winced, wanting the stranger to just go away so he didn't have to deal with this.  
  
_YOU DON'T WANT TO TALK TO SOMEONE LIKE ME_  
  
The boy made eye contact with Tyler and held his finger up before racing away from the window. Tyler felt relieved when the other left. Hopefully, he got the message and wasn't going to come back ever again. To Tyler's dismay, the blue-haired one was back again with his own notepad and paper.  
  
The boy grinned and started writing, holding his tongue between his teeth while he did. He pressed the notepad against the window with a smile.  
  
You don't know that. I'm Josh!  
  
Josh had rather messy handwriting. Tyler looked the boy and the note over one last time before recoiling back away from the window to respond to him.  
  
_I'm Tyler._  
  
For once in such a long time, Tyler actually felt compelled to interact with someone. He usually just stayed quiet when anyone aside from his mother attempted to communicate with him. Josh seemed interesting, and he also seemed like the kind of person who would wait out there all night for a reply if he had to.  
  
_Why are you trying to talk to me?_  
  
Josh smiled and shook his head, writing on his notepad as fast as he could.  
  
You were looking at me while I was getting the mail. Mom also said that there was another kid the same age as me living here.  
You are fourteen, right?  
  
_Yes._  
  
What do you look like behind those curtains?  
  
_I look like a normal person._  
  
Tyler watched Josh laugh through the window, and it honestly shocked him. How long had it been since he elicited an emotion that was something other than sadness or disgust from a person?  
  
Can you show me what you look like?  
  
_No._  
  
Do you want to be my friend?  
  
_Do you want to be mine?_  
  
Yeah!  
  
The boy outside his window turned away. It looked like someone was calling to him from his front porch.  
  
Tyler, I gotta go. Mom wants me home. I'll be back tomorrow.  
  
With that, the blue-haired boy closed up his notepad and took off, leaving Tyler's yard and returning back home. Tyler watched Josh until he shut the door to his house.  
  
He fell back on his bed and groaned, going over the conversation he'd had with Josh moments before in his head. He couldn't process it all; the fact that Josh was going to come back tomorrow, the fact that he was actually interested in any aspect of him. It felt sort of like a dream.  
  
Nobody had ever cared enough to know much about him. Tyler always insisted it didn't matter to him, but in reality, it hurt a little to know that he was so insignificant to other people. For once, he felt a little important. Just a little.  
  
It was likely that Josh was the same; just a bored kid who stumbled upon him. He knew that once Josh got tired of him, he'd never come back. The boy rolled over on his side in bed, not wanting his own brain to trick him into ruining the only connection he'd ever made with a person in four years. Could he even call it a connection?  
  
Probably not.  
  
\----  
  
Tyler could barely keep up with how fast time was passing. A few months had felt like a few days. Maybe it was because of Josh. Josh had come to see him almost every day, willingly standing outside his window in ninety-degree weather just to talk to him. It made him feel wanted. Tyler hadn't felt wanted in the two years he'd spent indoors, until recently.  
  
It was late July, near august when he and Josh were talking about school. Josh was going to go to the public high school. Tyler was conflicted in his choice of continuing homeschool, or attending school with Josh.  
  
Tyler, can I ask you something serious?  
  
_What is it?_  
  
Can I please come inside your room? It's been two months.  
  
Josh asked every single time they spoke, but Tyler had refused. He was so nervous about how the other might react to seeing him. If Josh came in and reacted badly, Tyler was sure that he'd never be able to leave the house again. It took a lot of internal arguing before Tyler wrote down his answer on a sheet of paper and pressed it against the window.  
  
_Yes. Mom will get the door._  
  
Josh looked like he was going to explode of excitement. He raced over towards the front door while Tyler tried his best to straighten himself up. Luckily, he'd taken a shower the day before. It had been a long time since he ever had a reason to make himself look presentable.  
  
  
"Tyler?" The voice was unknown, so it must have belonged to Josh. It was sweet sounding and unique. Tyler was already mesmerized by it. That was the voice of his best friend.  
  
Josh walked into the dark, cool room and stared at Tyler with wide eyes, a blank expression on his face. There was silence as they made eye contact until Josh cracked a smile and began to laugh. Tyler felt a lot of his nerves dissolve and soon joined in on the laughter.  
  
When their laughing subsided, Tyler stood up and cleared his throat, "I'm...happy you're here." Josh smiled even wider before reaching out and pulling Tyler into a hug. The two of them sat and talked for a little while, mostly over music. Apparently, Josh was intrigued by the fact that Tyler had a piano in his room.  
  
"Hey, Tyler, when was the last time you pulled these curtains open?" Josh questioned, walking over towards the window with his hands on his hips.  
  
"Uh...I can't remember." Tyler responded honestly, watching Josh with an unsure expression. He wasn't sure what the boy was planning, but he wasn't sure he trusted it.  
  
"Well..." Josh stood up on his toes and grabbed the curtains tightly in his hands, "I think I'm gonna open them today!" Josh called out loudly, a huge smile on his face.  
  
" **Not today!** " Tyler cried, clenching his fists at his sides as he struggled to think of a way to get Josh to stop what he was doing.  
  
" **Heard your voice, there's no choice!** " The blue-haired one exclaimed. With that, Josh pulled the curtains wide open, allowing sunlight to fill the previously dark room. He huffed as he pushed the blinds aside and opened the window, allowing fresh air to enter.  
  
Tyler stood there, frozen with shock and some sort of fear. He looked over at Josh, who was beaming at him, "You're not as weird looking as I thought you'd be." Josh said, walking over and wrapping his arms around his friend yet again.  
  
"Thanks," Tyler said, holding him tightly, "I'm sorry. **I wasted all this time trying to run from you.** " He pulled away from the hug and rubbed the back of his neck.  
  
"Don't worry about it." Josh smiled wide at him before motioning at the furniture in his room, "The only thing that isn't dusty in here is the piano." He commented, shuffling over towards the instrument.  
  
"Probably because it's one of the only things I do." Tyler shrugged.  
  
"You should play something," Josh suggested, clapping his hands together. From their conversations, its was clear that Josh had a passion for all kinds of music. Tyler had even learned that he could play the trumpet.  
  
"Eh, I dunno..." Tyler looked down at the keys nervously. What if he sounded bad to Josh? What if he got laughed at?  
  
"I could play with you if you wanted. Like, on my trumpet. It's red!" Josh motioned out the window at his house, "I'll go get it!"  
  
\----  
  
Tyler slammed his fingers down on the keys as he played out chords. Josh blew hard into his trumpet, attempting to keep up with how fast Tyler was moving on the piano. Sure, they didn't sound like some beautiful symphony, but they didn't sound like garbage together, either.  
  
"You're going too fast, keep the beat with my foot." Josh instructed, motioning down at his foot as he tapped it up and down at a steady rhythm.  
  
"Sorry!" Tyler said, a huge smile on his face as he tried his hardest to focus on the tapping of Josh's foot.  
  
"One...two...three!" Josh counted in, and they began playing their song together again.  
  
Yeah, Tyler didn't regret letting Josh into his life one bit.


End file.
